How the College Football Playoff Bracket was Built
The first 12-team bracket for the College Football Playoffs is underway. The semi-finals launch tomorrow with the Orange Bowl and bring us closer to crowning the Champion. It's a bigger magnifying glass on prospects for the NFL Draft than previous playoffs, but how did this bracket get built? And will it be the format of the future in College Football?
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Conference Championship Weekend helped put the final touches on the field, including squeezing out a national brand. Let’s talk about how the bracket came about.
At the top is No. 1 Oregon. The lone undefeated team has been the committee’s top-ranked team since the first rankings in early November. They cemented the top seed with a 45-37 win over Penn State in the Big Ten Championship Game. The Ducks will play in the Rose Bowl on January 1 against the winner of No. 8 Ohio State/No. 9 Tennessee.
Georgia’s SEC title hopes looked lost after their 28-10 loss to Ole Miss on November 9. But thanks to results elsewhere, including Ole Miss losing to Florida and Alabama losing to Oklahoma on November 23, the Bulldogs found themselves in Atlanta for the SEC title game against Texas.
Despite injuries to quarterback Carson Beck and running back Trevor Etienne, Kirby Smart’s team found a way to score a second victory over the Longhorns, capped off by a handoff from the injured Beck to the injured Etienne to win in overtime. Georgia secured the No. 2 seed with the win and a spot in the Sugar Bowl against either No. 7 Notre Dame or No. 10 Indiana.
Boise State had no trouble with UNLV in the Mountain West title game, jumping out to a 21-0 in the first half and went on to win 21-7. The Broncos knew they had secured a first-round bye as they would be ahead of the Big 12 champion. The next day, they received a gift from Clemson after the Tigers knocked off SMU for the ACC championship. That bumped Boise State up the No. 3 seed. They’ll play in the Fiesta Bowl against either No. 6 Penn State or No. 11 SMU.
The last bye went to Big 12 champion Arizona State, who completed a remarkable turnaround from being picked last in the preseason conference poll to hoisting the trophy after a convincing 45-19 win over Iowa State. The Sun Devils are headed to the Peach Bowl to meet the winner of No. 5 Texas vs. No. 12 Clemson.
The committee didn’t alter the rankings much after Championship Saturday. Despite suffering a second loss in their respective title games, both Texas and Penn State stayed ahead of Notre Dame in the final rankings. Notre Dame, Ohio State and Tennessee stayed together, meaning the Vols landed the No. 9 seed and have to go to Columbus.
After Clemson defeated SMU, the committee was left to decide between the Mustangs and Alabama for the last at-large spot in the field. Ultimately, the committee didn’t punish SMU for losing the ACC title game, something the committee had previously said would be the case. SMU did drop below Indiana in the final rankings, which is why Indiana will visit Notre Dame and SMU will be in the middle of a white-out at Penn State.
While many argued for Alabama due to their strength of schedule, the Tide did lose three games, two of which to 6-6 teams (Vanderbilt and Oklahoma). SMU’s two losses were to BYU and Clemson, two teams that only lost three games each.
In the end, the committee almost had to keep SMU in. If they didn’t, it would have set an extremely dangerous precedent and teams would become wary of playing in the conference championship game going forward.
Also, enjoy a 12-team field while it lasts. Don’t be surprised if, come 2026, the field expands to at least 14. The SEC and Big Ten will find a way to get multiple guaranteed spots. In addition, look for the committee to change how teams are seeded in the bracket. Conferences will still have automatic bids, but it likely won’t be long before they simply give the top-ranked teams the first-round byes, rather than the four highest-ranked conference champions.